Upgrade Relations: Order No.180
"'Come!' said Aragorn. 'This is the hour when we draw swords together.'" (II)
Each nation starts the game with a predisposition towards other nations. Free Peoples and Dark Servants dislike each other, and tolerate their bretheren. Neutrals, are, well, neutral towards all other nations, while all other nations are neutral towards them. This political predisposition is called 'relations' in game mechanics, and the relations nations have versus each other modifys the success or failure of many orders.
Using Order 180 allows a character to increase the way that character's nation veiws one other nation. This order is ranked as 'Easy' and may only be issued by a commander in the nation's capital, and that commander must use a Command Skill order. When the order is issued, the character must specify the number of the nation to upgrade relations with. Note that using this order does not affect in any way how THAT nation views the nation issuing order. It ONLY affects the nation issuing the order. Finally, a nations relations towards another nation can only be upgraded once per turn (I.E. Rohan can go from Neutral to Tolerant towards the Corsairs in one turn, but Neutral to Friendly would take not just two orders, but two turns).
There is a limit as to how good relations can become. Free People and Dark Servant nations may be neutral, tolerant or friendly towards others of their same alignment, and at best have only Tolerant relations towards a Neutral nation, and Neutral relations towards nations of the opposite alignment (Neutral Nations, at best, can only be Tolerant of other nations). Consider what this means. For a Neutral Nation to declare an allegiance, then upgrade to Tolerant status with all of its new allies, will require a staggering 11 Capital Command Skill orders, and 21 orders to become friendly with all of them. At the least, a Good or Evil nation will require 9 such orders to become Friendly with all of its allies.
What benefit is there to increasing the Relations? First, multi-nation companies many only be formed if all nations involved have Friendly relations towards each other. Secondly, certain trading between armies and population centers of different nations only occurs with Friendly relations. Third, as with all orders of an espionage nature, such as stealing, influencing and assassinating, nations will have better success against nations that have tolerant or friendly relations towards them. Finally, nations must be at least Tolerant towards each other to prevent their armies from blocking each other during movement (or to prevent an army from being stopped by another nation's fortifications).
In conclusion, upgrading relations to other nations has immense benefits. A multi-nation company can truly wreck havoc on the enemy. Friendly allies will be able to resupply armies at each other's population centers, increasing the range and effectiveness of their armies. However, these benefits come at a steep price in Capital Command Skill orders.
Return to Firebrand's Order Analysis
Text Copyright 1999 by Jeffery A. Dobberpuhl. All game mechanics and terms are Copyright 1993 by Tolkien Enterprises, as produced, designed and distributed by Game Systems, Inc.